House panel warns FDA off regulating ‘premium cigars’

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, 06.21.12
House panel warns FDA off regulating ‘premium cigars’
By Erika Bolstad
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON -- A congressional committee moved this week to exempt so-called “premium hand-rolled cigars” from oversight by the Food and Drug Administration.

The carve-out, backed in large part by lawmakers from Florida with close ties to cigar makers, wouldn’t outright prohibit the FDA from regulating the fancy cigars sold primarily at high-end tobacco shops.

But there’s a stern warning in the language accompanying an FDA spending bill that the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee passed Tuesday: “The committee reminds FDA that premium cigars have unique characteristics and cost-prohibitive price points and are not marketed to kids. Any effort to regulate cigars should take these items into consideration.”

~snip~
George Cecala, a spokesman for Posey, the House sponsor of the bill, cast it as a consumer choice issue. Washington is all too eager to create a nanny state, Cecala said: “\"This is an instance of people in Washington who don’t like a product trying to remove the freedom of people to enjoy it.”

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/21/2861451/house-panel-warns-fda-off-regulating.html#storylink=cpy

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[center]

Bill sponsor, Rep. "Birther" Bill Posey[/center]

[bloomington-lib]

1. "Washington is all too eager to create a nanny state"

Spoiled little kids hate nannies.

[HereSince1628]

3. And the rich don't lack for health care financing or for organs donated by poor people

This is clearly one of those places where the invisible hand will do all the work necessary.

[TeamPooka]

2. If Congress wants good cigars

they should open up exports from and to Cuba.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. +1. nt

[onehandle]

4. Won't somebody think of the millionaires!?

Yes.

[siligut]

5. Does this have anything to do with Cuban cigars?

Are reTHUGS hoping to find a way around the embargo? Marco Rubio is behind this.

[eggplant]

6. Weed, on the other hand... n/t

[Enrique]

8. regulating our cigars as if we're the riff-raff!

if the job creators have to look at warning labels they might not feel like creating jobs!

[SnakeEyes]

9. Good cigars arent just for rhe rich n/t

[Xipe Totec]

10. Personally, I think that anything that might keep Rush from smoking himself to death is a bad idea.